Thursday, August 13, 2009

Herbal Fan Book

It's the time of year to celebrate the bounty of the garden and my favorite, and only edible, crop is herbs.

For the book, you'll need:a panel of a cereal boxa piece of papera twist tietwo buttons

To make the book:1. Trace a plate on a cereal box panel and cut it out.

2. Trace the same plate on a piece of paper and cut out. I used a brown grocery bag.

3. Glue the paper circle on one side of the box circle.

4. Cut the circle in eighths. You can do it by eye or trace and cut another circle from scrap paper and fold it to use as a guide.

5. Punch a hole in each narrow end by pushing the punch in as far as it will go. It may take some extra oomph to get through. You can keep the pointy ends of the pages or trim them off (what I did).

6. Thread a twist tie through a button, make the ends even and thread them through the holes of the pages. Thread the twist tie through another button and twist the tie to make it secure.

If you want to make a simpler book, start with a rectangle and make rectangular pages.

Don't care about herbs? Make a book of trees, shells, dogs, cats, or favorite books.

LINKSHerb Society Schools SiteA site from the Herb Society of the UK. Most of the site is geared for children with some advice about making a school garden for teachers. There's a a puzzle page, information about the history of herbs around the world, suggestions for activities such as making a tussie-mussie, and information abut individual herbs.

Herbs at kidsgardening.comInformation on setting up a garden and suggestions for curriculum connections and history. Unfortunately most of the links in the Resources section are expired.The Herb GuideInformation on herbs including a culinary A-Z.